Kiss the girls
by Down the gutter I go
Summary: Daryl POV. Going out on his own, meets strangers in the woods. Slow burn. I have no idea where this is going yet, so rated M for now.
1. Chapter 1

It must have been late autumn when he first spotted their tracks. It must have been, because there were lots of leaves which made the tracking easy. His trained eye was quick to pick them up. It was new territory for him. Tracking in new territory was always exciting, you never knew what or who you might run into. Everywhere he looked he saw new surroundings, markers to remember. He treaded carefully and slowly, crossbow up to his face, taking in new smells at the same time. He loved autumn. Time to turn the page. And there they were. Tracks. Lots of them, scattered around. They went forward; he followed them. But there were also lots of side steps, which caught his interest. He wanted to know who they belonged to. These were definately people tracks, not walkers'. Walkers swayed all over the place, dragging their feet. Their tracks were smeared. These were clean strides, steps. There weren't many walkers in these parts anyway. Not many people had lived here before the outbreak, if he found a few here, they'd make nice targetpractice along the way.

Braches were in his way, he had to duck around to avoid them sweeping into his face. He had to squint his eyes against the late sun. He missed his sunglasses, they would have come in handy now. He'd lost them some years ago and had to make due. Trying to shield his eyes, he walked along slowly, keeping his head low.

The woods were pretty dense in these parts. There were rolling hills left and right of the path, some way away. He'd been in the area a few times, but had always stuck to the road for safety. But every time he had driven through, he promised himself to go back and search for...something. He didn't really know what, but anything he might find that would come in handy. Food, water, game to hunt, equipment, people. Who knew? So a few days ago he had some time on his hands and remembered that promise. He packed up his gear and drove back there. The trees had been calling him. This was his home. Not some fenced fancy pre-fab neighbourhood. He felt free here. Just him and the birds. And the occasional walker. Surviving on next to nothing was his thing. This was what he knew best. He enjoyed being on his own. Their new housing arrangements had been suffocating. Being forced into a new rythm with a lot of new people had been hard on him. He felt like escaping most of the time and was grateful they'd given him a job which ensured just that; to get away from the place. He returned there to sleep, only to leave again at first light. He didn't like people much and that feeling was mutual most of the time.

When he arrived at his startingpoint, he'd driven his bike off the road and into some bushes where it wouldn't be found. He'd been going along something that resembled a footpath for about two hours when he'd spotted these tracks and decided to follow them. They didn't seem too fresh. The weather had been alright for autumn, there hadn't been much rain yet, so they weren't spoiled. Keeping his eyes and ears open for possible danger, he edged forward. The trees gave way to bushes and opened into a clearing. Here, the tracks faded into grass and he had lost them. Or so he thought. The clearing was about the size of a footballfield. With a sigh, he lowered his crossbow to have a good look around. _Shame._ The clearing sure was pretty. Wild flowers bloomed all over it, the smell was amazing. Suddenly he thought he saw movement in the corner of his eye. Pulling up the crossbow with a jerk, he pointed it toward what he thought he'd seen. _What the...?_ But there wasn't anything there. He walked in the direction where he thought he'd saw something, along the egde of the field, when again he thought he'd heard it. Laughter of some sort. Waited, listening. There it was again... a child's laughter. _There's something I haven't heard in a while. What's a kid doing here?_ He turned right, back to the bushes when he saw her standing there. And she saw him. A little girl, she couldn't have been more than about four years old. Dull brown hair, tied up with elastic bands. Big brown eyes. She wore a pink shirt and blue jeans. She had been picking flowers. But now, she was so scared of him, she'd forgotten what she was doing, dropped the flowers and seemed pinned to the ground. "MAMA!", she screamed at the top of her lungs.

He was so taken by surprise himself, he'd dropped his crossbow. _Of course, those tracks were made by a kid, that makes sense._ But hearing the girl screaming for her mother, made him pull up the bow again. That girl wasn't here by herself. _Easy now..._ he tried calming himself, but couldn't help it. Adrenaline kicked in; his breath quickened.

Things changed rapidly. He went toward the girl, slowly, on guard. There was about 50 yardsbetween them when she ran from him, back toward the bushes still screaming. At the same time, the mother stepped into the clearing, toward the girl, yelling her name. She immediately understood the danger of a stranger present, turned her head and got him in view. Instinctively, she pushed the girl behind her and in one fluent motion, her eyes darted around to see if he was alone and she pulled out a gun from under her shirt and pointed it at him.

"Stay there, don't come any closer", she yelled at him, fire in her eyes. She pulled the child closer to her, when another girl stepped out behind her. This one was a little older, maybe six or seven. Blond hair, pretty eyes. Like her mother's. _What was a woman with two kids doing in these woods? Surely she can't be here on her own?_

 _"_ It's alright, I don't mean you any harm. Sorry I scared your kid." He tried to keep her calm, which she seemed to be, but he never gotten used to having a gun pointed at him. And he had no intention to find out if it was loaded or not. "You here by yourself?", he asked, staying were he was.

"Like I'm gonna answer that. Run along, you have no business here!", she yelled at him, keeping the gun steadily aimed at him and nodding her head, to urge him to move. Outward she might have appeared composed, but he could see her chest heaving rapidly.

"Okay, I'll be goin' then. Would you mind pointin' that thing somewhere else? I don't want to shoot you neither...". He tried making a peaceful getaway, by lifting the crossbow up vertically. He was surprised to see, she put the safety back on the gun and lowered her arm.

He turned around and walked off, back to his bike. This trip was over.


	2. Chapter 2

He'd found his bike where he left it. It usually wasn't in him to be scared off or send away, but the determination in the woman's voice made him feel like he was trespassing. Like he'd been somewhere where he wasn't supposed to be. The fear in her blazing eyes was enough for him to come to the conclusion it must be just them. By the time he was back on the road he was already convinced they weren't with a group. _What the hell is wrong with her to leave her kids so exposed. How dangerous was that? What was she thinking being there all by herself. What if he was with a group, how was she gonna protect herself and those kids? Were they living there or just passing through? How? By foot?_

He drove back, questions trickling into his mind like drops of water. By the time he arrived at Alexandria he had already decided to go back and investigate further. He wanted to know what was going on and who they were, what their story was. He had a light dinner on the porch and shared his encounter with the others in the evening. They too agreed this needed more checking out. They might want to live secluded, but at least he should give them the option to stay at Alexandria. There was still plenty of space available here. It would be a lot safer for those girls. They could go to their make-shift school and learn how to read and write. Carol volunteered to come with him. Maybe when the approach came from a woman, it would make a difference. He thought about it, but settled on the idea to watch them for a while first.

And that's what he set out to do the next day. He packed up his stuff again, figuring he'd be gone for a few days and headed out back to where he first spotted their tracks. It wasn't hard to find them, the second time round. The tracks were all over the place and soon he was back at the clearing where he's spotted the little girl first. They weren't there this time. So he walked back to the bushes where the mom first had emerged. And he kept going, straight ahead. There were plenty of the same tracks there. Footsteps going in all directions. They lead to a path through more trees. It ended in something that resembled a front yard of a small wooden cabin. There were voices inside, but he couldn't hear what was being said.

He kept his distance and encircled the cabin once, twice. Keeping his bow up, just in case someone would come out, but no one did. The cabin was surrounded by a sturdy DYI-fence with iron spikes to keep the walkers out. There was a gate in the middle; the only entrance. Smoke came from the chimney. If he didn't know any better this would be an ideal lovers-getaway.

Careful to not disturb anything, he started making bigger circles around the cabin, to check out the surroundings. More trees. And about 100 yards behind the cabin was a small stream. This was probably where they got their water from. On the other side of the stream was a sloping rockface. From there he would have a great vantage point to study their activities for a while.

For two days and two nights he watched them, living a seemingly carefree life. He saw them waking up early, before the sun had risen. Candlelight shown through the windows for a while, casting dancing shadows on the ground outside. At around seven, he spotted the mother coming toward the stream with a bucket. He finally had a proper opportunity to see what she looked like. She had a slender frame and long dark hair flowed freely around her broad shoulders. Her face was tanned, fresh and open. Almost relaxed. _How can you be relaxed out in the woods with two small kids? She sure was pretty._ Beautiful eyes. He could see where the kids got theirs from. He watched her rinsing the bucket and filling it up with clean water, humming to herself. As she walked off, he could see her swaying her ass a bit. _That was a good ass._ He nodded at himself in approval and smirked at his own thought.

During the day, they didn't seem to come out and curiousity got the better of him. He climbed off the rocky slope and creeped closer toward to cabin. He wanted to take his chances and take a peek through a window, see what they were up to. He heard their voices inside. He could tell by the rhythm of the conversation, the girls were asking questions. Their momma was answering them patiently. He pressed his back to the side of the cabin and peeked inside over his shoulder for just a second. It was enough to see they were all sitting at a table. It was covered in books. The eldest girl had a notepad and was holding a pencil. The mom was home-schooling her kids. _I'm impressed_ , he thought. Nodding to himself again. This one was full of surprises.

In the afternoon he saw them take off toward the clearing. He decided not to follow this time. The chances of them spotting him were too great. After an hour or two, just before it got dark, they returned with bundles of freshly picked wildflowers. _Momma's a bit more on edge this time_ , he noticed. She kept looking back over her shoulder, hand on the gun behind her back. She ushered the kids back inside. He assumed she bolted the door from the inside. She should anyway. _Was he getting protective already?_ , he thought to himself, while eating some beefjerky he'd brought with him. He sat on top of the rocky hill, watching the cabin. Saw the candles being blown out and decided to take a little drink against the cold. A night cap, as you will.

"...aaaah, crap...!" _where the hell am I? What's that damn noise? Fireworks? Ahhh, shit my head hurts...aaahh, shit, my leg too...what the hell happened?_

"What's going on, momma?" _Momma? Shit, he blew his cover?_

" You get back into the house and fetch some towels!..." _...and those kids..._

Blurred images hurt his head, he couldn't focus on anything. He could feel the momma standing close, looking down at him. She crouched down quickly lifted his head and tiny stars exploded behind his eyes. He felt Something soft being placed underneath his head. Tugging on his leg, which felt like it had fallen off. Pain flashed though it like lightening

"You dumb ass...", she heard him scorn at him, but his eyes wouldn't focus on her. _What the hell happened?_ was the last he thought before passing out.


	3. Chapter 3

"MAMA"... _Whu...where did I hear that before...pain, PAIN! Fuuuuuck! Where the hell am I anyway? In some bed?_ He hadn't been in a proper bed for months, not even at Alexandria, where he prefered sleeping on the floor.

 _Screaming, stop the screaming...my head's about to blow..._ "SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"Relax, she's just scared." _What? Who the fuck was that?_ Why was he hurting so much?! He tried opening his eyes, but didn't get further than making slits. The room seemed to be dimmly lit, but still enough to make his head explode into a gazillion pieces. Who was talking to him? He thought the voice was familair, but couldn't place it. Taking the given advice, he layed back against the pillow.

"Shhh, you be quiet now. Captain Grumpy will be staying with us for a while. He's not going to hurt us...", he heard a woman's voice soothing the child. A couple of seconds later followed by "...and you better not make me a liar", he heard her threatening voice come closer as she walked into the room. Apparently those words were directed to him.

"What's goin' on... and why am I tied to the damn bed? Best let me GO!", he was getting pissed off now. He didn't want to be here. His arm was tied to the bedpost with a tie-rip. It was asleep, he couldn't feel his fingers anymore. He tried pulling loose, but the tie-rip wouldn't budge. Pangs of pain plagued both his head and his left leg. He wanted to get the hell out of here. _Where the hell's my stuff?_ _Son of a bitch, where's my clothes?!_ Looking down his chest, he realised he was naked down to his boxers.

"Calm down, I'll fill you in." That voice again. Was he in that hot momma's bed? How the hell did he end up here? _Tied to the bed. Did they...?! Nah..._

"Your drunk ass fell off the rock wall two nights ago. I found you in the morning, unconsious, bleeding all over the place. You've probably got a concussion and your leg's got a pretty nasty fleshwound. You're lucky you're not dead, falling from that height." She sat on the side of the bed, looking at him patiently. She WAS a hot momma, now he got a good look up close. Green eyes. Clean impeccable skin. Straight white teeth. The exact opposite of him; the dirtmonster. He guessed she couldn't be older than 35. She pulled away the duvet from his waist, showing him his fresly dressed lower leg. He didn't look at his leg, he looked at her. He already knew his leg was bad, by the pain. He wanted to know what she was up to. _Can I trust her?! She doesn't seem hostile. She took me in. A stranger, in the same house as her kids. She's got guts._ He tried breaking free of the tie-rip again, yanking his arm around, sitting up halfway. He was sore as hell, every movement hurt basically everywhere.

"Your friend Carol came by to look for you. She's nice.", she mentioned matter-of-factly, like she and Carol were best friends for years and Carol stopped by for tea. She examined his face, while she said it, checking for a reaction. His eyes shot up to hers. For a moment, they made eye-contact. But quickly he turned his head away, embarrased. "Yeah...? And she just left me here, with you?" _Why?_

 _"_ Yeah, we figured it best not to move you too much. I'd hurt you enough dragging you up here. You're free to go. You're not some prisoner. I tied you up, because I wanted to talk to you first. I want us to come to an understanding.""Yeah, what's that?" "You can stay here and get better, I'm willing to look after you for a while. And Carol was willing to drop by to help. Or you can go, I don't care either way. But one thing. I you choose to stay here and you hurt my girls, I'll be having your balls for breakfast. Do you understand...?!" _What about yourself? Don't you care about yourself?_

"I understand."

"Okay", she said, pulling a knife out of her back pocket. Easily she sliced the tie-rip in half, letting his blood flow freely again. "So, doctor, how long would I have to stay...if I'd stay...?", he asked, wringing his wrist. That dam tie-rip left a pretty mark. He wanted to know what he was up against; he wasn't very good with kids. And staying here meant having to put up with them. "Well, recovery of a concussion usually takes a few weeks. You have a mouth on you, so I'm not worried about you having any braindamage. It's that cut on your leg that's more tricky. We need to make sure it won't get infected. Regular cleaning and bandaging. You'll be in bed for a while. A few days at least."

While she was explaining things, he looked around the room. It was small, only a double bed, a closet and a chair were in it. Behind his head was a big window, which was covered by heavy curtains. "I've put your stuff away. Much too dangerous to be having a crossbow around my girls. If you need anything, I'll get it for you." Like she was reading his mind. "A shirt might be nice", he smirked sarcastically, covering his chest by crossing his arms, again. "Don't even know your name and you've already seen me naked." It made her laugh. "Don't be an ass, Captain Grumpy. I haven't. We needed to take your pants off to dress that wound. You're in my bed and you stank like hell, so I've washed your clothes for you. You'll get them back when they're dry." _Hot AND the maternal type. Just his luck._ "So, what's it gonna be?", she asked impatiently, looking at him with raised eyebrows. _She looked right through him, with those eyes. Can I move?_ He tried shifting around the bed a bit. He could prop himself up, but judging by the pain his leg was giving him, he wasn't walking any time soon. _I'm not going anywhere. Not even if I wanted to._ "Don't think I have a choice..." "Ok, then. I'll fix you something to eat", this were resolved. "I'm Nicole", she muttered over her shoulder, while she was already halfway out the room. "The name's Daryl", he stated to her back. _Damn, that IS a killer ass!_ "I know. Captain Grumpy it is".

She returned to the bedroom with a steaming plate of something that smelled really good and handed it to him. "Let me put the kids to bed. We can chat later". "Hmm, am not much of a chatter", he warned her, tugging into the food. "That's alright, you can listen."


End file.
